***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 27
July 15, 2005
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IN THIS EDITION:
* +ARRL bolsters BPL reconsideration petition with new filing
* +Article by Spectrum Bill sponsor promotes ham radio
* +Desire to explore inspired career, astronaut tells students
* +Ham radio volunteers deal with Dennis; Emily in the wings
* +Vanity call sign fee to rise slightly
* +FCC revises Form 605
* Solar Update
* IN BRIEF:
This weekend on the radio
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration
ARRL to sponsor emergency communications seminar at Huntsville
+Logbook of the World reaches milestone
Trinity Site special event to commemorate A-bomb anniversary
Joseph R. Littlepage, WE5Y, wins June QST Cover Plaque Award
+Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>
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==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org
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==>ARRL CITES "ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES" TO BUTTRESS BPL RECONSIDERATION
PETITION
The ARRL has cited the conclusions of a UK study and of the FCC itself to
further support its call for the Commission to "reconsider, rescind and
re-study" the broadband over power line (BPL) rules it adopted last October.
In its Petition for Reconsideration last February in the BPL proceeding, ET
Docket 04-37, the League argued that in permitting unlicensed Part 15
devices such as BPL, the Commission's main obligation is to establish a
radiated emission level low enough so that the devices "will predictably not
interfere" with licensed services.
"Unless this conclusion can be fairly reached, the Commission has no
statutory authority to permit the facilities to operate on an unlicensed
basis," the League maintains in a Citation of Additional Authority
(Citation) filed July 8. Furthermore, the League says, the FCC itself
affirmed the ARRL's argument in another proceeding.
The League cited a Commission conclusion in last December's Second Report
and Order and Second Memorandum Opinion and Order in the Ultra-Wideband
(UWB) proceeding, ET Docket 98-153. The FCC held in its UWB Order that a
reasonable reading of Section 301 of the Communications Act would limit
licensing to "any apparatus which transmits enough energy to have a
significant potential for causing harmful interference." The FCC, the League
asserts in its Citation, cannot authorize BPL--although it's an
unintentional radiator--due to "acknowledged (and field-proven) substantial
interference potential to licensed services." The solution, the ARRL said,
is to establish radiated emission limits at a level that would make the
chances of interference negligible.
Accompanying the Citation are studies of BPL systems in Scotland conducted
by Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications regulator. Ofcom says concern over
signal leakage is one reason for BPL's small UK market share compared with
DSL and cable. "Although efficient for their primary purpose, electricity
supply cables are not designed, screened or balanced for high frequency use,
and in this application they produce significant leakage emissions," the
Ofcom study said, adding that the emissions potentially can interfere with
radio communication services "including short wave broadcasts."
In its Citation, the ARRL again argues that the FCC "incorrectly rejected"
the League's recommendation for a 20 dB extrapolation factor in measuring
BPL signal decay on HF based on distance from the signal's source. Instead,
the FCC opted to apply the existing--and less stringent--40 dB/decade factor
in Part 15.
"The existing Part 15 standard is clearly inapplicable and underestimates
the BPL field strength by up to 11.5 dB," the ARRL said, pointing to the
Ofcom studies to support its assertion. The League called the FCC's adopted
40 dB/decade factor "inappropriate." The ARRL also said the Ofcom studies
clearly show that notching is ineffective to mitigate interference and that
certain BPL systems cannot even meet the FCC's "overly liberal" Part 15
field strength.
The League further noted that the FCC already applies a 20 dB/decade
standard to measure signal decay of Part 18 Industrial, Scientific and
Medical devices that can operate below 30 MHz.
In last October's BPL Order, the League pointed out, the FCC stated that if
new information became available auguring in favor of alternative emission
limit/distance standards or extrapolation factors, it would revisit the
issue.
"There is no time like the present," the ARRL urged.
A copy of the ARRL's Citation is on the League's Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/BPL-Reconsideration-Citation-
of-Additional-Authority.pdf>.
==>SPECTRUM PROTECTION BILL SPONSOR'S ARTICLE PROMOTES AMATEUR RADIO'S VALUE
Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005 sponsor Sen Michael Crapo
(R-ID) this week promoted the value of Amateur Radio and his bill's efforts
to preserve ham radio spectrum in a July 13 article in The Hill--a magazine
for and about Congress. Crapo introduced the US Senate version of the
Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005, S 1236, in June with
bipartisan support in the 109th Congress. It's identical to the House
version, HR 691, introduced earlier in the session by Rep Michael Bilirakis
of Florida. In his article, "Amateur Radio: a voice in the storm," Crapo
says that in an era of increasing demand for spectrum, Amateur Radio's
allocations must be preserved.
"Today, Amateur Radio still serves a vital purpose, especially in our
post-Sept. 11 world," he wrote. "Acting as volunteers, Amateur Radio
operators provide assistance in numerous disaster-relief efforts, from the
terror attacks in New York and Washington to floods in Texas, hurricanes in
Florida, earthquakes in Seattle and California and fires in the West and in
my home state of Idaho."
Crapo points out that since 1982, Amateur Radio has lost 107 megahertz--"the
equivalent of 18 television channels"--and another 145 megahertz "is in
danger of being reallocated." Calling Amateur Radio "one of the pioneers of
modern communications," he notes that even today's communication systems,
such as cellular telephones, can fail or may be primary targets, while ham
radio operators have a demonstrated history of being able to provide vital
communication under adverse circumstances.
"The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act will ensure the success of this
vital link in our security communications infrastructure while continuing to
encourage the innovation and creativity that is the hallmark of this field,"
Crapo asserts. The Senate and House legislation would require the FCC to
provide "equivalent replacement spectrum" to the Amateur Radio and
Amateur-Satellite services in the event of reallocation to other services of
primary amateur spectrum or the diminution of secondary amateur spectrum.
The bill also would cover additional allocations within Amateur Radio bands
that "would substantially reduce" their utility to Amateur Service
licensees.
"It maintains spectrum allocation flexibility by only requiring that the
basic amount of spectrum allocated to Amateur Radio operators be
maintained," Crapo explained. "Together with my colleagues Sens Daniel Akaka
(D-HI), Kit Bond (R-MO), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), I look
forward to working toward this bipartisan solution to the problem of lost
spectrum for Amateur Radio operators."
S 1236 has been referred to the US Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee of which Burns is a member. HR 691 has been
referred to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
"Amateur Radio: a voice in the storm" appears on The Hill Web site
<http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/071305/ss_crap
o.html>. The Hill circulates to all members of Congress and their staff
members as well as to much of "official Washington."
Efforts continue in both chambers of Congress to attract additional
cosponsors for S 1236 and HR 691. The League encourages its members to urge
their congressional representatives and senators to sign aboard. More than
100 lawmakers in both houses agreed to cosponsor similar legislation in the
108th Congress. A sample letter
<http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/hr-691-sample-letter.html> for HR 691 and
a sample letter <http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/s-1236/> for S
1236--are available on the ARRL Web site. Members may want to use these as
guides in writing their members of Congress to seek their support.
To expedite delivery, send all correspondence bound for Members of
Congress--preferably as an attachment--to specbill@arrl.org or fax it to
703-684-7594. The ARRL will bundle correspondence addressed to each Member
of Congress for hand delivery.
==>AN EXPLORER AT HEART, ASTRONAUT TELLS JAPANESE STUDENTS
US Astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY, took a short break from celebrating
Independence Day July 4 to speak with youngsters at Yokohama Elementary
School in Kochi, Japan. The contact between NA1SS on the space station and
8N5ARISS at the school was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) program. Phillips said he decided to
become an astronaut because he felt inspired to explore.
"I became an astronaut because I wanted to take part in one of the great
programs of exploration," Phillips told the youngsters. "If I had lived 200
years ago I probably would have wanted to be a polar explorer."
Phillips told the Yokohama Elementary pupils that he and crewmate (and
Expedition 11 Commander) Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, get an early start each
work day, arising at 6 AM for breakfast and not quitting for the day until
around 8 PM. They hit the sack around 11 PM (the ISS maintains UTC as its
standard time). A typical work day, he said, revolves around scientific
experiments, routine station repair and maintenance, and work in support of
other space vehicles, such as the space shuttle. NASA had to postpone the
planned launch of the shuttle Discovery due to problems with fuel sensors.
Phillips said the view of the heavens from the ISS is very similar to what
one sees from Earth on a clear night from a mountaintop, except that the
station crew can see both Southern and Northern Hemisphere stars and the
planets and stars twinkle against a black background even during the day. "I
looked at Saturn's rings about two weeks ago when Saturn was aligned with
Mercury and Venus," Phillips reported. "I used binoculars, and I could just
barely see the rings."
As other astronauts before him have said, Phillips described the view of
Earth from the ISS as "very beautiful" and exhibits the same colors one sees
on the ground. "The oceans are blue, the snow is white, the forests are
green, the deserts are tan and the cities are gray," he said. "And at night
you can see lightning and city lights."
The control operator for the contact was Ikuko Omura, JA5GSG, and Satoshi
Yasuda, 7M3TJZ, served as mentor for the ARISS QSO. Eighteen youngsters at
the Kochi school each asked a single question during the approximately
10-minute pass. Looking on were nearly 300 classmates and other visitors.
Yasuda says representatives of several news media covered the event.
ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> is an educational outreach program with US
participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
==>AMATEUR RADIO DEALS WITH DENNIS; EMILY EMERGES WITH NEW STRENGTH
Following four days of operation as Hurricane Dennis swept through the
Caribbean before making landfall along the US Gulf Coast, the Hurricane
Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz secured operations July 10. The net worked in
concert with WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center to relay real-time,
ground-level weather data from net members to assist NHC forecasters in
determining the storm's behavior. HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, said the
net racked up more than 50 hours of activation time for Hurricane Dennis
July 7-10. But even as he was sounding "Taps" for Dennis, he was already
anticipating the net's next activation.
"As we awaken on this sunlit morning in South Florida, it is with a
surprised awareness that there is yet another tropical storm on the horizon
out in the eastern Caribbean," Pilgrim said July 11. Tropical Depression 5
quickly ramped up to Category 3 Hurricane Emily by the end of the
week--fulfilling Pilgrim's prophecy and threatening Jamaica, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti and, perhaps eventually, Mexico and southern Texas.
Property damage from the winds and flooding Dennis spawned was still being
assessed at week's end. Before heading toward US shores, Hurricane Dennis
left behind a path of death and destruction in Haiti, the Dominican
Republic, Jamaica and Cuba.
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) reports from areas along the US Gulf
Coast were still coming in at week's end. Northern Florida Section Manager
Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, rode out the storm at the emergency operations center
(EOC) in Santa Rosa County, which includes Pensacola. The Florida Panhandle
and the Alabama Gulf Coast appear to have taken the brunt of Dennis, a
Category 3 hurricane as it came ashore.
Hubbard said ARES teams in the Panhandle District of Northern Florida
handled necessary communication assignments, including communication between
a shelter and the EOC. He said coordination among the various county EOCs
and the State EOC in the capital of Tallahassee also worked smoothly.
Hundreds of residents in the Florida Panhandle and elsewhere along the
storm's expected landfall point took advantage of Red Cross shelters.
Thousands were without power in the affected area in the storm's immediate
aftermath. Dennis hit the region less than a year after a series of
devastating hurricanes ravaged Florida last year, and that point was not
lost on Northern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Joe Bushel, W2DWR,
who noted that many ARES members were among those still recovering from
2004.
"For most of us outside the isolated severe damage areas, Dennis was a great
drill which provided much-needed experience," Bushel said. "Unfortunately,
Florida has had its share of 'experience' over the last two years."
West Panhandle District Emergency Coordinator Bobby Tyree, KG4KGX, said
Santa Rosa County ARES stood down July 13. "The Santa Rosa emergency manager
made the statement that she could not have done it without ARES," he
reported.
Although ARES members were at the ready all along Florida's western coast,
Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff Beals, WA4AW, said
Dennis was "primarily a rain event" in most of the section's counties.
Special sessions of the Southern Florida ARES Net were called up as the
storm moved into the Gulf.
In Mississippi, the West Gulf ARES net activated Sunday afternoon, and ARES
teams invoked the memorandum of understanding with the Louisiana and South
Texas ARRL sections regarding assistance with net control duties.
Mississippi SM Malcolm Keown, W5XX, said the net secured July 11 as Dennis
exited the state.
"Early reports indicate that as Dennis approached, ARES responded very
quickly in counties along the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi/Alabama
line," Keown said, thanking everyone who took part.
The Alabama Emergency Net and the Alabama EOC activated July 8. Alabama SM
Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, traveled to Escambia County, Alabama, to assist with
ARES activities there. He noted July 12 that ARES teams were assisting with
damage assessment.
Pilgrim said he was pleased to report that participants in the IARU HF World
Championship contest July 9 and 10 posed no problems for the HWN, although
less-than-optimal band conditions and solar flares did complicate things.
"We received total and complete cooperation from the contesting community
and were left with virtually a clear frequency on which to conduct our
business," Pilgrim said. "Thanks to all those who demonstrated their respect
for and belief in the ultimate value of Amateur Radio Service--our ability
and dedication to render support and assistance during times of emergency."
The HWN reactivated for Hurricane Emily on July 15.
==>VANITY CALL SIGN APPLICATION FEE TO RISE
The regulatory fee to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will go up
slightly later this year, an FCC Order indicates. A Report and Order and
Order On Reconsideration (R&O) in the assessment and collection of
regulatory fees for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 released July 7 increases the
fee for FY 2005 to $21.90 for the 10-year license term. The FCC said it had
adjusted FY 2004 "payment units" for each service to better reflect expected
FY 2005 payment liabilities.
"We tied to obtain verification for these estimates from multiple sources
and, in all cases, we compared FY 2005 estimates with actual FY 2004 payment
units to ensure that our revised estimates were reasonable," the FCC said in
the R&O. "Where appropriate, we adjusted and/or rounded our final estimates
to take into consideration the fact that certain variables that impact on
the number of payment units cannot be estimated exactly."
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the proceeding last February,
the Commission had proposed keeping the vanity call sign fee at its current
$20.80. The fee rose from $16.30 to $20.80 last August. A reevaluation in
the number of anticipated vanity call sign applications--or "payment
units"--accounts for the latest fee hike.
In its February 2005 NPRM, the Commission had estimated it would receive
8000 vanity applications during FY 2005. This month's R&O reflects a
downward recalculation to an anticipated 7600 vanity applications--up only
slightly from a year earlier--so the fee had to be raised to meet FY 2005
revenue requirements.
While the R&O does not specify the effective date of the change, this
generally occurs 30 days after the R&O's publication in The Federal
Register, which hasn't happened yet. In past years, the effective date has
been in August or September.
More information on vanity call signs is available on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/vanity.html>.
==>FCC ISSUES REVISED FORM 605, OBSOLETES PREVIOUS EDITIONS
A revised FCC Form 605, "Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the
Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General
Mobile Radio Services," has gone into effect. The new form must be used for
all receipts as of July 18.
"Applicants can avoid filing outdated editions by submitting their
applications through the Universal Licensing System (ULS)
<http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/>, given that changes to the paper forms will
be incorporated into the system automatically," the FCC said. The new Form
605 is available online from the FCC Web site
<http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605.html>.
The revised form includes a new Question 13 (subsequent questions have been
appropriately renumbered) that will affect amateurs applying for an
administrative update (AU) to reflect a change in licensee name. Question 13
now asks: "If the licensee name is being updated, is the update a result
from the sale (or transfer of control) of the license(s) to another party
and for which proper Commission approval has not been received or proper
notification not provided?" Amateur Radio Service applicants should always
answer "no" to Question 13.
Not answering the question--which has nothing to do with the Amateur Radio
Service--could result in dismissal of an application.
For additional information or assistance, visit the FCC Help and Support Web
page <http://esupport.fcc.gov/index.htm>. This change does not affect the
NCVEC Form 605 that VECs and VE teams use.
==>HAMS PACK COURTROOM AT GERRITSEN SENTENCING
Radio amateurs turned out in force July 13 as reputed Los Angeles-area radio
jammer Jack Gerritsen, who was briefly licensed as KG6IRO, was sentenced on
state charges of threatening another amateur and his daughter via a local
repeater. He was convicted July 8. Some 50 radio amateurs showed up for the
sentencing, and many more mailed or e-mailed the court.
Superior Court Judge Craig J. Mitchell gave Gerritsen 120 days in jail and
three years probation. He also barred Gerritsen from any contact with those
who had testified against him and from operating ham gear without a valid
FCC license. Gerritsen was arrested in May on a contempt citation for
allegedly violating the terms of a temporary restraining order the
victimized radio amateur had obtained to keep Gerritsen off a local
repeater. That radio amateur and two others subsequently testified against
Gerritsen.
Serving as his own attorney, Gerritsen contended he was falsely accused and
that his First Amendment rights were being violated. Mitchell told Gerritsen
the case was not about the First Amendment but about Gerritsen's threatening
and bullying behavior.
The 69-year-old Bell, California, resident still faces federal charges
following his May 5 arrest and seizure of his radio equipment by FBI agents
accompanied by FCC personnel. Released on bond in that case, he's been
subject to monitored home detention and barred from possessing or using any
radio equipment. The federal criminal complaint cited an FCC investigation
revealing that Gerritsen "often transmits his prerecorded political messages
and real-time harassment and profanity for hours at a time, often making it
impossible for licensed radio operators to use the public frequencies."
The FCC has affirmed a $10,000 fine against Gerritsen for unlicensed
operation and proposed another $42,000 in forfeitures for alleged
interference-related infractions.--some information provided by Burton
Brink, N6USO
==>SOLAR UPDATE
Solar flash Tad "Sunny" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: The big
patch of sunspots that energized activity less than two weeks ago has
drifted around the edge of the sun. The result has been falling daily
sunspot numbers and solar flux. The average daily sunspot number dropped a
little more than 63 points to 91.3. At the same time, geomagnetic
disturbances increased.
On July 10 a coronal mass ejection (CME) from a day earlier hit Earth, and
caused a geomagnetic storm. The same day it hit, the planetary A index
jumped to 47, and another CME began its journey from the sun. As a result,
the planetary A index went back up--this time to 48 on July 12. All this as
sunspot numbers and solar flux dropped.
Solar activity is currently increasing, but only from some sunspots that are
drifting from view. They may deliver an indirect hit to Earth in the next
couple of days. The interplanetary magnetic field, or IMF, is pointing
south, which means Earth is vulnerable. Currently the planetary A indices
for Friday through Monday, July 15-18, are predicted to be 25, 25, 20 and
12.
Sunspot numbers and solar flux should reach a short-term minimum around July
16-19, and another maximum around August 2-5.
Sunspot numbers for July 7 through 13 were 149, 111, 126, 78, 68, 52 and 55,
with a mean of 91.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 124.9, 110.4, 106.6, 101.8, 93.3,
95.3 and 91.7, with a mean of 103.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 8,
5, 19, 47, 23, 48 and 30 with a mean of 25.7. Estimated mid-latitude A
indices were 6, 5, 13, 28, 14, 17 and 20, with a mean of 14.7.
__________________________________
==>IN BRIEF:
* This weekend on the radio: The CQ Worldwide VHF Contest, the North
American QSO Party (RTTY) and RSGB Low Power Field Day, are the weekend of
July 16-17. JUST AHEAD: The RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (Data) is July
21. The NCCC Thursday Sprint is July 22 (UTC). The Great Lakes Sweepstakes
and the VK/Trans-Tasman 160-Meter Contest (CW) are the weekend of July
23-24. The RSGB IOTA Contest and the ARS Flight of the Bumblebees are the
weekend of July 30-31. See the ARRL Contest Branch page
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info.
* ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration:
Registration for the ARRL Antenna Modeling (EC-004) and Radio Propagation
(EC-011) on-line course remains open through Sunday, July 17. Classes begin
Friday July 29. For the Antenna Modeling course, computer-modeling expert
and author L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, has combined the expertise of his long career
as a college professor with his love and antennas and antenna modeling to
offer a comprehensive, yet practical, course of study. Propagation students
will study the science of RF propagation, including the properties of
electromagnetic waves, the atmosphere and the ionosphere, the sun and
sunspots, ground waves and sky waves, and various propagation
modes--including aurora and meteor scatter. Registration for the new ARRL
Digital Electronics course (EC-013) will remain open through July 24.
Students will learn about Boolean essentials, basic gates, latches, buffers
and drivers, encoders and decoders, serial interfaces, input devices,
displays, logic families, microprocessor basics, interfacing with analog
devices, understanding data sheets and design resources. To learn more,
visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/> Web page or contact the ARRL Certification and
Continuing Education Program Department cce@arrl.org.
* Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration: Registration
for the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level III on-line course
(EC-003) opens Monday, July 18, 1201 AM EDT, and will remain open until all
available seats have been filled or through the July 23-24
weekend--whichever comes first. Class begins Friday, August 5. Thanks to a
grant from United Technologies Corporation (UTC), the $45 registration fee
paid upon enrollment will be reimbursed to students who complete the course
requirements and are upgraded by their mentor to "Passed" within the 8-week
course period. During this registration period, seats are being offered to
ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, visit the
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce>. For more information, contact Emergency
Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, cce@arrl.org; 860-594-0340.
* ARRL to sponsor emergency communications seminar at Huntsville: The ARRL
will offer a *free* Amateur Radio Emergency Communications seminar in
conjunction with the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention in Huntsville,
Alabama. The seminar will take place Friday, August 19, from 1 until 5 PM.
THIS SEMINAR IS NOT AN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COURSE. ARRL Emergency
Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, says the seminar will focus
on ways to better meet the increasing demand for ham radio operators to
assist in emergency communication activities. ARES/RACES leadership, ARRL
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course graduates, mentors,
instructors and prospective students are encouraged to attend. Seating may
be limited. If you plan to attend, contact Miller
(k3ufg@arrl.org/860-594-0340/fax 860-594-0259). Seminar attendance does not
include admission to the convention, which runs August 20-21.
* Logbook of the World reaches milestone: The ARRL's Logbook of the World
(LoTW) now has surpassed 10,000 registered users worldwide! LoTW, which went
on line September 15, 2003, provides a global repository of participants'
logs. When both participants in a QSO submit matching QSO records to LoTW,
the result is a "QSL credit" that can be eventually applied toward many
awards. To date, more than 75.1 million QSO records have been entered into
the system, resulting in nearly 3.5 million QSL records or matches among
uploaded logs. At present ARRL LoTW QSO credits are applicable only toward
DXCC, but plans call for supporting other awards, such as WAS and VUCC, in
the future. To ensure system integrity, LoTW users first must obtain a free
digital certificate, which is used when submitting log data to the database.
Users incur a fee only when they apply QSL matches from LoTW toward a
particular award. The specific fee varies depending on the number of credits
purchased at one time. The LoTW Web page <http://www.arrl.org/lotw> has
complete information on how to register and use the system.
* Trinity Site special event to commemorate A-bomb anniversary: The Trinity
Site special event station W5MPZ will mark the 60th anniversary of the
world's first atomic bomb. Various New Mexico hams, sponsored by the Sandia
National Laboratories Amateur Radio Club will operate from the Trinity Site
as part of the anniversary activities. Culminating The Manhattan Project,
the first A-bomb was detonated before sunrise in the New Mexico desert 35
miles east of Socorro. The Trinity Site is now part of the White Sands
Missile Range, which has given permission for the event. Full information is
on the Trinity Site Special Event Station Web site
<http://www.zianet.com/QRP/Special/TRINITY_PR.jpg>.
* Joseph R. Littlepage, WE5Y, wins June QST Cover Plaque Award: The winner
of the QST Cover Plaque Award for June is Joseph R. Littlepage, WE5Y, for
his article "A Portable Inverted V Antenna." Congratulations, Joseph! The
winner of the QST Cover Plaque award--given to the author or authors of the
best article in each issue--is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the
QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>. Cast a ballot for your
favorite article in the June issue by July 31.
===========================================================
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change your e-mail delivery address. You must do this yourself via the
Members Only Web Site.)
The ARRL Letter also is available to all, free of charge, from these
sources:
* ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>. (NOTE: The ARRL Letter will be
posted each Friday when it is distributed via e-mail.)
* The QTH.net listserver, thanks to volunteers from the Boston Amateur Radio
Club: Visit Mailing Lists@QTH.Net
<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/letter-list>. (NOTE: The ARRL
cannot assist subscribers who receive The ARRL Letter via this listserver.)
